Where do you get this information that you can state with such certainty that Suzuki copied Bushman's Delta Frost?
Your claim that phosphor bronze is unavailable to Suzuki (or in China) clearly does not affect Suzuki's ability to use it in their harmonicas. Several Suzuki harmonica models do indeed claim to have phosphor bronze reeds (try googling +suzuki +harmonica +phosphor), so why wouldn't Suzuki be able to put phosphor bronze in a DF-like harmonica?
I've also heard from insiders that that the DF is a repackaged Suzuki.
Both stories could be true, but both have elements of unlikeliness.
While Bushman models are attractive and highly regarded, you probably know that there are no harmonica factories in the United States. The manufacturer most frequently linked to Bushman is the Seydel company in Germany (which also makes harmonicas for accordion manufacturer Weltmeister). So the DF could possibly come from Germany, but could also come from China (or Japan, Brazil, or the Czech Republic, all countries where harmronicas are made).
So it's possible that the DF is made in Germany. But why on earth would Suzuki bother to copy it? Every model added adds a cost of manufacturing and marketing, so it would have to offer a clear benefit. Delta Frost is not famous the way Lee Oskar or Marine Band are, for instance. Certainly Suzuki has had no problem coming out with a whole succession of innovative, high-quality products on its own. I can't see why they would gain by copying the Delta Frost.
The important thing: If you like the harp that says "Delta Frost" on the cover, play it. Who cares where it comes from?
Winslow
--- rbeetsme@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Did you know that the Delta Frost came first, Suzuki copied the harp, except they didn't have access to the higher quality phospher bronze to copy the reedplates. The phospher bronze used in the Delta Frost comes from America, not available to Suzuki or their Chinese reed makers. Just to set the record straight. (Scandalous! the Japanese and Chinese actually COPIED it! )
____________________________________________________________________________________
Building a website is a piece of cake. Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l